In the past, plow assemblies have been devised for shallow tilling using a sweep which is towed by a plow assembly. Some of these sweeps are employed to sweep along the surface of the ground, as the plow penetrates into and plows the ground, for clearing the furrow of loose soil, weeds and stalk roots. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,753, a sweep is taught, which moves the subsoil laterally to both sides of a vertical cut made by the plow. U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,066 discloses a V-shaped tool which is hinged about a horizontal axis and is pivotally connected to the rear of a scoop for clearing the furrows of loose soil between the rows of crops and pushes the dirt laterally to cover small weeds. U.S. Pat. No. 2,597,608 discloses a subsoil sweep for slicing the subsoil so as to afford better water penetration. U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,227 discloses soil conditioning devices which are V-shaped and are towed by swivelly mounted rods disposed behind by conventional plows. U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,074 discloses earth working blades which pivot about a vertical axis rearward of one of the earth working blades. U.S. Pat. Nos. 780,405 and 641,595 disclose plows provided with adjustable wings extending from the plow shovel for shallow cultivation. U.S. Pat. No. 1,303,813 reveals a plow in which wings pivoted about a vertical axis rearward of the point of the plow beam so that these wings engage the thrown up earth.
None of these prior art devices, however, appear to be suitable for plowing shallow furrows wherein the lateral subsoil between the furrows is cut beneath the surface to provide shallow tillage across the width of the plow assembly with a minimum of force applied to the plow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, the present invention includes a plow assembly formed from a conventional main frame, having a plurality of spaced, parallel, transversely extending, tow or tool bars, connected by longitudinally extending cross bars. A conventional three point hitch is centrally connected in a convention manner to the front tool bar so that the main frame can be disposed in a horizontal plane and towed over the ground by a tractor. A plurality of equally spaced clamps are mounted on the front tool bar and respectively receive upright staffs having spring loaded colters (coulters) mounted thereon. The function of the colters is to cut stalks and the Found in advance of the plowshares.
The next two rows of tow or tool bars carry additional clamps which respectively support the staggered, arcuate, chisel plow tines. The lower end portions of each arcuate tine contains a chisel plow share which, in turn, tows a floating wing sweep, pivotally mounted at its forward central portion to the plow shank. Each sweep is a flat, substantially V-shaped member having opposed, rearwardly diverging wings. When plowing, the path of travel of the rear wings overlap the path of travel forward wings. The pivotable mounting of the sweeps to their plow shanks enables the sweeps to pivot freely about horizontal, transverse axes so as to track and remain essentially level and submerged below the surface of the land being tilled, to the depth of the chisel point of its tine.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plow assembly which will effectively plow the soil and, with one pass across the area, till a width, corresponding generally to the width of the plow assembly.
Another object of the invention is to provide floating sweeps for a plow assembly which will simultaneously destroy the subsoil stalk roots and soften the top soil, while the plow elements plow and turn the soil with one sweep of the plow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly capable of plowing a large sub-surface area with a single sweep and with a minimum of additional power being required from the tractor to propel the plow assembly along its prescribed path.
Another object of the present invention is to provide, in a plow assembly, a readily removable, laterally extending, subsoil sweep which remains essentially level during operation and reduces to a minimum of any additional power required to tow such a sweep.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for plowing, which is inexpensive to manufacture, durable in structure and efficient in operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly which will readily till, in a single pass along the ground, a cross section of soil which normally requires two or more passes of a conventional plow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly which will cut essentially all of the stalks and the roots of the stalks, in its path of travel, in one pass and leave the soil ready for the next crop.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly which uniformly shallow tills a wide area of soil over which the plow assembly passes, without the need for shifting the plow at the end of each row.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly which, when used for tilling, will reduce the likelihood of nematode build up in the soil.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly which will effectively till equally well, soils which have grown various types of crops.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly and process which will eliminate most of the problems of furrow collapse, which is usually caused by heavy rains shortly after planting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly and process of plowing which will provide wide, shallow and soft strips of primarily top soil in which the top soil is only minimally disturbed, so that when planted, the soil will permit the crops to develop a better root systems, particularly in dry weather.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a floating wing for a chisel-type plow which is inexpensively manufactured and easily attached to existing chisel plows and which, when used, will till equally well for many crops and can be used in place of a heavy harrow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plow assembly in which the depth of penetration of the wings attached to the plow shanks will be controlled so as to maintain a uniform level of tilling during the operation of the plow assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a readily detachable wing sweep for a chisel plow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wing sweep for a chisel plow which has an extended useful life and is easily sharpened.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wing sweep for a chisel plow wherein the wing sweep can be selectively positioned for various prescribed depths of operation of the sweep.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.